1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication terminals and more particularly to a credit verification terminal for enabling transmission of data identifying a user of the terminal (customer) and the terminal itself (merchant) to a distant location.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the increased usage of credit cards in today's cashless society has come a need for quickly and efficiently processing a transaction at the point of sale. Processing, in this connection, generally requires the steps of (1) establishing a comunication link with a computer, an attendant, or other facility provided for the purpose by the credit card sponsor, (2) identifying the user or customer, (3) identifying the originator of the transaction, for example, a merchant, (4) communicating the dollar amount of the proposed transaction, and (5) providing an indication at the terminal that the transaction has been approved. Obviously, it is desirable to automate as many of the foregoing steps as possible. To this end, prior art systems have been developed wherein user identification information is encoded optically or magnetically on a stripe contained on the reverse side of a credit card. A similar card containing the telephone number of the authorization facility, and information pertaining to the merchant may also be available, or this data can be stored in a memory within the terminal. In either event, both types of information are transmitted, generally via telephone lines, to the remote location after the initial call is made either manually or automatically a card dialer or the like. The transaction value is then sent via further signalling from an array of push buttons at the terminal, and an authorization to proceed with the transaction or other instructions can be received back either aurally or visually. A complete description of one such terminal is contained in the copending application of V. S. Borison et al, Ser. No. 549,472 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,090, filed Feb. 13, 1975 and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application.
While large strides have thus already been made toward automation of the credit verification process, certain difficulties nevertheless remain, primarily in the area of merchant identification. For example, where the merchant data is contained on the magnetic or optically encoded stripe of a credit card, an extra handling step is required of the terminal operator, and the card itself is subject to loss or damage. Where various credit card sponsors are involved, a separate card for each is required, undesirably increasing the possibility of using the wrong card. On the other hand, if the merchant identification is internally stored in a logic memory within the terminal, such memory may be complicated, expensive, and difficult to reprogram, and may also be subject to data loss in the event of power failure.
Based on the foregoing, it is the broad object of the present invention to provide a credit verification terminal capable of efficiently and reliably performing the processing functions enumerated above with a minimum of operator effort, cost and complexity. Additional objects include provision of such a terminal which stores merchant data internally in a manner in which the information is not lost if power fails, yet enables simple changes in the stored data, and which can be used in conjunction with various credit systems without the need for a multiplicity of merchant cards or an unduly large internal logic memory.